Master gene plays key role in blood sugar levels
Date: 3.12.2008
When mice that lack steroid receptor-2 (SRC-2) – a master **regulator gene** called a coactivator – fast for a day, their **blood sugar** levels plummet. If they go another day without food, they will die.
The severity of the **hypoglycemia** (low blood sugar) was unexpected, said Dr. Bert W. O'Malley, chair of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor College of Medicine and senior author of the report on the study that appears in the current issue of the journal Science. Normal mice live as long as seven days without food.
"Baylor College of Medicine":[ http://www.bcm.edu/news/item.cfm?newsID=1277]
